Our first days on the Big Island have been a lot of fun. We added two more people to our group….Beth and Barry. Our first accommodation was in South Kona at a Macadamia Nut/Coffee farm. It wasn’t quite what we expected….Barry likes to refer to it as a hut…I’d say it was more like a nice cabin…The beds were cozy….but had mosquito nets around them, which may give you an idea of what we were dealing with here. We were a little freaked out the first night….Barry found a giant spider among other things…so we all sort of held up in one bed, watching Friends on the computer and eating the ultimate comfort food…brownie mix…it was quite humorous.

The next day we rented kayaks and braved the open sea (can you always tell when I’m exaggerating? ) Well, we were paddling in the Pacific…and there were waves….and there were DOLPHINS…..that’s right….our 30 dollar kayak rental turned into a “swim with the dolphins” excursion. It was so great! They were all around us. We took turns abandoning ship and swimming with them. I can’t tell you how cool it was. After the dolphins, came the fantastic snorkeling. We docked our boats…hiked to the Captain Cook monument, rescued our wheat bread from a hungry mongoose, and then did some of the best snorkeling of the trip. I saw fish I’d never seen before…all kinds….some frankly were a little scary. We paddled back after a while….taking our time. We finally were forced out of the water by a rainstorm. The ride back to the rental company was a bit interesting….we weren’t the best at attaching our kayaks to the car…..let’s just say we’re pretty lucky travelers. We finished out the day with dinner at an outside restaurant/brewery. Not a bad Hawaiian day I’d say.